Not so smooth of an introduction. Ch. 35

"Greeting your highness, and nice to see you again, Irene." Galium said as he bend down to kiss Irene's hand while staring at Cercis's agitated face.

Sigh- They're going to quarrel again, aren't they?- I thought.

But before anything could go down, someone was stomping their way down from the stairs with their high heels, letting us know of their presence.

"Oh! You're here! Long time no see, Kanna~" A girl said cheerily. She looked to be around Hedera's age and was wearing a vibrant red dress. Her long golden wavy hair was curled down to the edge of her hip. Her mono lid eyes, highlighted by her blood-red pupils. Her lips, painted dark red. Her makeup was heavy, but wasn't overwhelming in anywhere; nonetheless, it only enhanced her sharp features. Compare to Cercis, she is way scarier to look at, a trembling beauty. Opposite to Irene whom made your heart fluttered by her grace, this woman overwhelmed your stomach, not with butterflies, perhaps creepy crawly filled with blood-tingling thrills. Everyone was a bit stunned by her appearance Ugh.. should I keep staring or look away?

"Cercis, what are you just standing there for? Invite our esteemed guests in! The banquet's about to start, you know." The woman spoke so casually as she made her way down to us.

"I'm showing our guests around a bit, no need to nagged me, your highness. We're just making our way there, anyway." Cercis responded coldly to her.

"Uwuahhh look at this kid! What's with this cold attitude?! Boohoo.. how could you be so mean to your sister right now.." The woman said as she cling onto me and sulked on my shoulder. Huh- wait she's saying she's Cercis's sister?!

As I was zoning out, Galium came to greet her. Earlier, he only bent his head down to kiss Irene's hand, but now.. he's on one of his knee, greeting beneath her very palm… I've never seen him like this before.

"Greetings, your highness, princess Ficaria." Galium said.

F-Ficaria?! Ficaria Verna Leo?!, the first princess of the Leo?! Ohh… I'm going to piss my pants.. an actual lioness is holding onto me right now.

"Oh Galium~ you're always such a gentleman." Ficaria said giggly, as she turned to look at me.

"Kanna! It's been such a long time since we've met darling.. Have you been well?! And did you grow taller too? You're adjusting to my eye level pretty well.. oh doesn't matter! You're still the cute little birdie to me~" Ficaria said as she patted my head like I was a baby in her hand.

I was a bit tensed up by her approach. In the story, Kannavis was sort of close with her, you could say Ficaria is almost like a big sister to her, but her intentions aren't all that innocent.

While I was panicking, I didn't realize that Irene's mood has changed from the moment earlier as well.

"Greetings, princess Ficaria." Irene spoke in a high toned as if she's also trying to grab her attention.

Ficaria slowly looked at Irene up and down before giving an analysis back- "Ah! You must be Irene Briar. Congratulations on Winning the selection right to the Colosseum battle! I've heard so many great things about you, these days!" Ficaria said.

"I'm deeply flattered, your highness." Irene said, then quickly, Ficaria continued.

"Oh it's not just flattering words, you know. I am truly impressed by your skills! If I were around your age, I definitely would not past the opportunity to have a go with you." Ficaria said.

Irene then lifted her head up to look at Ficaria in the eye. " I am honored, your highness. If I must say, your highness is still youthful and behold true powers. I'm sure If you permit it, I will also not reject your invitation to have a hone my skills with you."

Myy.. they looked at each other as they're about to tear each other into a shred right now.. not just me, but I'm sure Galium and Cercis can feel this suffocating air around them as well..

Ficaria went silent for a moment then burst into a laughter- "Uwahaha! I like you! Oh you all are especially entertaining! I haven't had much fun around here since forever..Come now! We can't let the adults be waiting on us!" Ficaria said as she locked her hand in mine.

"Come, Kanna! We have so much stuff to catch up onto!" Ficaria said as she dragged me along with. While she's doing so, I locked over my shoulder to see Irene walking along the other guys, but her expressions.. it's been awhile since I've seen her frowned? Is there something wrong?

*Creaks…*

The heavy wooden doors opened, and we're greeted by a faint aroma of tenderness smell, flowing through the air with a hint of winery undertones. The spacious indoor had a row of wide- blocked windows to the left side of the room, hanging down with red velvet curtains. At the center, it has a incredibly long table, surrounded by flashy looking armed chairs, and flower vases, decorated on the table around every three meters of the table. On the right side, there were thin columns with gothic capitals, connected to the other side, there were huge couches and sofas, matted with fur, a fireplace to the right end, and a grand piano on our right when we entered.

On those couches, there seemed to be four people sitting across each other from the table, a pair of men and women.

"Hey Raven, don't you think it's about time you give me that land? You don't even oversee it anymore, now… why not hand it to me instead?" A woman spoke. She seemed to be of middle aged, but she has such fair skin and a slender stature. Her hair was short and darkened like moss. Her eyes were sharp and bright like a pair of blue diamonds.

"Sighed- Seriously.. Vinca. How many times do I have to say this? My estate is literally built on top of the land, so no. Just because I haven't been there for awhile, doesn't mean it's your to take." The man spoke coldly to the woman. He has a pair of tired eyes, glowed up by its bright violet colors. His deep blue hair was styled in an executive contour and a crest of the Corvus is tagged to his vest…

"Hehe.. it's alway worth a try. You're always in that Orphys hall anyway. If you need a hand in care taking, you know who to look for~" The woman said teasingly.

" Hmph!" The man grunted in displeased.

"Haha! now now.. let's not forget that we're here for a celebration. It's hard to have us all in one room together, so leave the quarrel aside, yeah?" A huge man spoke. He's got a blond mane of a hair, connected with a mutton chops to his face. His eyes are fierce red and his brows arched almost shape like a bird flapping in wings on his fore head. Sitting by his side was a small woman with braided ginger haired. She didn't say anything but just sat there and smiled.

"Carya Verna Leo and Primula Leo, King and Queen of our Lilium kingdom." Hedera said from behind- sh*t?! Where did he come from?!

"Oh! Hedera! Where were you earlier?" Ficaria asked him excitedly.

"Good afternoon, princess Ficaria. I had an errand to run for my duchess earlier. I hope I'm not late for this." Hedera replied happily… these two, they gave off the same vibe.

"Greetings, lord Hedera." Irene bowed.

"Hello Irene~ I didn't expect you'd be here. A wonderful surprise, isn't it?" Hedera smiled brightly. Galium and Cercis, on the other hand, looked like they weren't too happy about this.

"Oh would you look at that. The kids have arrived. Let us go see them." Carya said while leading the other towards us.

Suddenly, everyone were on their knees, bowing to the great figures infront of us. I almost slipped up and stand off by myself there.

"Haha! Come all of you, get up!" Carya said.

"Father!" As soon we were excused, Ficaria got up and went to give Carya a huge hug whereas Primula, went to caress Cercis in her palm… huh he looked so docile in her hand.

As I was distracted at their sight of warmth, he approached me.

"Kannavis." The man said. His voice were deep and his tone didn't shown any interest nor dissatisfaction. There's no doubt about it.

"Father." I called him. Raven Corvus, Duke of the Corvus. I've finally met him. His eyes were observing me, and we locked our eyes with each other. Old Kannavis was afraid of this man, he'd never actually done anything bad to her being, but his stares alone frightened her… crap my hands are shaking..

"Father… it's been awhile." Galium interrupted in. Because of his interference, I was finally able to breathe easy again.. phew.

"Mmm.. I've heard about what happened at the manor.. You did a great job handling it, Galium." Raven praised Galium as he patted his shoulder.

"..Thank you, father.." Galium said as if he was to break down in tears at the moment. Wow- that really puts a smile on Galium's face huh.

"Kannavis Corvus?" The older woman sought out to me. I got up and she grabbed a hold of my hand.

"I've been wanting to meet you for a looonggg time~" The woman said as she smiled widely… somehow I felt weirdly threatened by this..

Because of the confusing look on my face, Hedera jumped in to assist us with the introduction.

"Ah! Lady Kannavis. As you might have guessed, this is our Duchess of the house of Ophis, Vinca Ophis." Hedera said.

"Oh! I-I see.. my apologies that I wasn't able to recognized, your grace." I said as I greeted her.

"Hehe.. it's fine. Raven has such a polite and sweet young girl for a daughter, I'm sure Mary would be happy to see this, don't you think?" Vinca said.

Raven, after hearing it, looked Vinca dead in the eyes. His eyes widened, his lips fall down, creating such distorted look his face. Anger, disgust, resentment all formed together on this man's face.

"Hmph!" Carya interrupted in and approached Irene- "You must be Irene Briar. Welcome to the castle of Leo. We're glad to have you join us for this evening banquet." Carya said as he reached his hand out to Irene.

"Now let the feast begins."

Huuu.. seriously I am deeply concerned about this meeting.